When the moderator opened the floor to questions from the audience, one of the people who approached the microphone was a nervous young girl. She directed her question at Caviezel, who then smiled at her to put her at ease. The girl’s question was, “Which was more fun to work on? [Person of Interest] or The Passion of the Christ?”

The audience laughed, the panel laughed, and the moderator commented, “Best question ever!”

Considering that Caviezel endured a lightning strike and other injuries while working on The Passion, it’s no surprise that he jokingly answered, “[Person of Interest] is a little more funner by that much…because we get to shoot guns a lot.”

After the audience responded with more laughter, Caviezel, with a sense of parental curiosity, asked the girl, “How old are you, sweetheart?”

“I’m 11 years old,” she responded.

“You’re the same age as my daughter and you’re beautiful,” smiled Caviezel. “Thank you for asking.”

“Thank you so much,” said the elated girl, who then approached the stage in the hopes of shaking Caviezel’s hand. From the side, you can hear Sarah Shahi saying, “Give her a hug.” And Caviezel followed his TV partner’s advice.

Using some moves he picked up from playing John Reese, he climbed over the table, jumped off the stage, and embraced the girl, who is seen for the first time on the accompanying video, with tears in her eyes from being so excited. Caviezel posed for a picture with her, gave her another hug and peck on the cheek, then returned to the stage (this time by walking up the steps). The crowd loved it and Shahi in particular can be heard adoring this unexpectedly sweet moment.

Once again, Jim Caviezel proves himself to be a class act with a fatherly side you don’t get to see on “Person of Interest.” You can watch the whole exchange in the video below between 1:20 and 3:05.